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Sports Outside the Beltway

Former NFL player and announcer Tom Brookshier dead at 78

Where do I start? I have many memories of Brookshier. He and Pat Summerall were the lead football announcers for CBS for around a decade. They appeared in the action movie, Black Sunday, as themselves. Brookshier and Summerall also did syndicated NFL highlight shows(In those pre ESPN days) like ‘Game of the Week’ and ‘This week in pro football’. I watched shows every week almost when growing up. It is very hard for me to forget who I thought did a great job describing NFL play. RIP.

Former Philadelphia Eagles star Tom Brookshier has died at 78.

The Eagles said he had cancer and died Friday night.

Brookshier was an All-Pro defensive back who played on the Eagles’ 1960 championship team. He had 20 interceptions in seven seasons with the team, earning All-Pro honors in 1959 and 1960.

After he retired, Brookshier announced NFL games for CBS. He teamed with Pat Summerall to form CBS’ top telecast team.

He is one of seven Eagles to have his number retired.

 

FSN Pittsburgh suspends hockey producer

A delayed replay in a game played last Thursday is the cause for this action. From AP-

FSN Pittsburgh has indefinitely suspended a longtime hockey producer for not quickly showing a replay that could have caused a short-handed goal to be awarded to Flyers forward Simon Gagne against the Penguins on Thursday.

The producer, Lowell MacDonald Jr., is the one-time lead hockey producer at ESPN and is the son of former Penguins forward Lowell MacDonald.

Gagne’s shot appeared to cross the goal line while Penguins goalie Brent Johnson was covering it during the second period of the Flyers’ 7-4 victory, but the on-ice officials did not signal a goal. TV replays made available to NHL officials in Toronto were inconclusive.

Moments after play resumed, FSN Pittsburgh aired a replay from an overhead camera that showed the puck crossing the goal line. A call cannot be reversed by use of replay once play has started.

TV rights holders are required to make available all angles of a disputed play. Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia also aired the game, but only FSN Pittsburgh’s telecast contained video from the overhead camera.

FSN Pittsburgh, which carries all Penguins game except those televised by NBC and Versus, said in a statement Tuesday that there “is nothing more important than the integrity of the game.”

Penguin management supported FSN Pittsburgh’s decision saying ‘The integrity of the game is paramount.”

I agree with that statement but have a question. Why is a person like Lowell MacDonald Jr., with deep ties to the Penguins(His father played for the team for a almost a decade), allowed to produce broadcasts whose video can be used to sustain or overturn referee decisions? There was a potential for problems that all parties should have known of in advance.

I’m not saying McDonald did anything wrong, just that he shouldn’t have been put in a situation where it can appear he did. Because to maintain the integrity of the game requires there be no one with strong biases in a position to cause damage to it.

 

Will the Globe and Mail’s Lorne Rubenstein please pick up the white courtesy phone

In the aftermath of Geoff Ogilvy’s win yesterday, the golf writer takes us down memory lane as he tells us about other Australians who have had success at professional golf.

Greg Norman, of course, is the Australian who probably comes to most golf-watchers when they consider players from Down Under who have been big winners. Norman won the 1986 and 1993 Open Championships and some 90 other tournaments around the world. He tied for third in the 2003 Open, when he was already a senior golfer.

Actually Norman finished tied for 3rd at the 2008 British Open. This may just be a typo. Also Norman’s PGA Tour profile lists his total victories as 89, two of which are those Open Championship victories of his. Rubenstein has it as 2 plus 90 other wins.

There is more……

But Norman was only following a long line of Aussies who have ruled the game. Peter Thomson won five Opens between 1954 and 1965. David Graham won the 1979 PGA Championship and the 1981 U.S. Open. Wayne Grady won the 1990 PGA while Steve Elkington won the 1995 PGA. Ian Baker-Finch won the 1991 Open. Adam Scott has won six PGA Tour events.

Let me point out something about Thomson. His five British Open Championships are impressive, at the time he did it, those were not considered PGA Tour events. Retroactively they have been changed to wins, and if they weren’t, Thomson would have only one PGA title to his credit.

The reason I mention this. The introduction to Rubenstein’s article.

Greg Ogilvy* is the latest in a string of Australians to become a big winner on the PGA Tour

In his day, Peter Thomson wasn’t considered a big winner on the PGA Tour.

I can name four Australians that Rubenstein fails to mention who have won more tournaments on the PGA Tour than Adam Scott. Can anyone take a guess who those are?

Stuart Appleby 8 wins

Bruce Devlin 8 wins

Bruce Crampton 14 wins

Jim Ferrier 18 wins including the 1947 PGA Championship making him the first Australian born golfer to win a major Championship.

But wait didn’t Ferrier become a U.S. citizen? Yes, but so did David Graham at least of those listed above by Rubenstein.

And let’s not forget Kel Nagle, who won the 1964 Canadian Open. The Canadian Open was a very significant event in those days. Who finished second to Nagle? None other than Arnold Palmer.

I know Rubenstein works in Canada and understand his Canadian Open focus. You want to hear what else Nagle won with Arnold Palmer finishing 2nd?

How about the 1960 British Open.

Rubenstein didn’t write a horrible column, just a mediocre and incomplete one.

*- A name slipup obviously. I pick at Golf writer’s work all the time, but I make those same type of mistakes. There’s a level to my nitpicking.

 

Will ESPN’s Bob Harig please pick up the red courtesy phone

It didn’t take long at all for golf writer in 2010 to offer up a bad already tried idea. Harig writes-

To help, perhaps a new format for the season-opening tournament — whether it is in Hawaii or elsewhere — is in order. Does any sport have a meeker opening than golf? A winners-only event sounds fine, but just 28 players are in Hawaii this week.

Maybe one of the World Golf Championship events could kick off the season.

This has been done already.

January 8, 2001

Melbourne, Australia — Steve Stricker needed a lot of help to win the Match Play Championship, but not from anyone he played.

Three days before Christmas, Stricker was No. 90 in the world rankings and preparing to start his season next week in Tucson, Ariz., at a second-tier PGA Tour event. He wound up in Australia at a $5 million World Golf Championship event when Tiger Woods, David Duval and two dozen other top players decided against a trip halfway around the world.

So Hariq doesn’t just propose an idea that’s been tried already but one that was a abysmal failure as top ranked players skipped the tournament in droves. Remember only the top 64 go to the match play tournament. At least 26 players(and I think the actual total was in the low 30′s) skipped a WGC event when it was the season opener. Brilliant idea, let’s do it again. NOT!

Harig did say the tournament would be mandatory. Aren’t players independent contractors? If a healthy Woods or Mickelson says no, can the tour keep other players from bailing too?

Do note- Only 3 players are skipping this week’s season opener, the SBS Championship.

If Hariq picks up his call, I’d suggest he take he take some remedial lessons in golf history.

 

First ever Seattle Supersonics announcer, Bob Blackburn, dead at 85

In addition to being the voice of the SuperSonics for 25 years, Blackburn also worked Oregon and Oregon State basketball games during his career. RIP.

Bob Blackburn, the Seattle SuperSonics’ first broadcaster and for 20 years the lone voice of Sonics history, died Friday after a lengthy illness, his wife Pat told The Associated Press. He was 85.

Known for his smooth voice and simple, colorful descriptions, Blackburn educated two generations of basketball fans in the Pacific Northwest. From Lenny Wilkens to Jack Sikma, Blackburn was the narrator for Sonics basketball, including the team’s lone NBA championship in 1979.

“That beautiful voice. I fell in love with that voice,” Pat Blackburn said Friday night.

A year ago Blackburn fell and suffered a severe head injury requiring surgery, his wife said. There were complications following surgery, but Pat Blackburn said her husband of 61 years bounced back. He eventually fell ill with pneumonia.

“He was a gentleman, and he said he wants to be remembered as a kind person,” she said.

 

Tennis Channel accuses Comcast of bias

TTC’s chief executive called the case ‘a litmus test’. From AP-

The Tennis Channel has filed a complaint with federal regulators accusing Comcast of discriminating against its programming.

The Tennis Channel alleges that Comcast isolates the network on a premium sports tier that reaches only a small fraction of subscribers, even as it carries Comcast-owned networks such as the Golf Channel and Versus on basic tiers that reach many more customers.

The Tennis Channel filed its complaint with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

I have both Comcast(Our homeowner’s association has a deal with the cable company) and Directv. TTC(and NHL network) is on a high tier with Comcast and one I rarely go to. Golf Channel, FSN Florida, and NFL Network are on lower tiers but in NFL’s case, it is part of Comcast’s digital package.

On the other hand, Directv has NFL, NHL, GC, and TTC all in a row right after ESPN. Versus is up in the stratosphere along with all the FSN channels. Is Comcast biased? Probably. Should they be forced to move TTC downward? I don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes, but why didn’t TTC just ask Comcast? The Cable company has to have many tennis fans, and with competition from satellite providers, should have a desire to keep them happy.

 

Kentucky Football Coach Rich Brooks retires

He took the Wildcats to four consecutive Bowl games. I find it interesting that the AP article below mentions Brooks time as head coach of the Rams but fails to mention his similar duties at the University of Oregon. Brooks, a Oregon State graduate, was only the Ducks Head Football coach for 17 seasons, was coach of the year and took Oregon to the Rose Bowl in 1995 and their first ever Pac 10 Championship. He deserves most of the credit for reviving Ducks football.

Update- The AP article has been updated and now includes a mention of Brooks time at Oregon but still neglects to mention his winning coach of the year while he was the coach of the Ducks.

Kentucky coach Rich Brooks has announced that he is retiring after seven seasons coaching the Wildcats.

Brooks made the announcement on Monday. He will be replaced by offensive head coach Joker Phillips, who agreed to become Brooks’ eventual successor two years ago.

Brooks finishes his career with a 39-47 record at Kentucky. He went 130-156-4 overall in 25 seasons overall at the collegiate level. Brooks posted a 13-19 record coaching the NFL’s St. Louis Rams in the mid-1990s.

 

LPGA Tour Pollyanna- NY Times Golf writer Larry Dorman

For those of you who don’t know what a Pollyanna is, it is a person who is blindly or excessively optimistic.

That’s how Dorman sounds in an article written a few days ago-

The L.P.G.A. enters 2010 with a strong hand.

A strong hand? There’s only 24 tournaments, one of which is totally TBA event(The South Korea event) and another on a one-year deal(Jamie Farr). There is only 23 certain events this year, the lowest on tour in almost 40 years and right now for 2011 could even dip even lower.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not as pessimistic about the LPGA’s future as I was when Carolyn Bivens was Commissioner. Right now I’m taking a wait and see stance with new Commissioner Michael Whan. I don’t see how he CAN’T be improvement on Bivens. That is good news for the LPGA.

Dorman is making Pollyanna sound like Chicken Little.

The NY Times writer isn’t done either.

the four-year domination of Lorena Ochoa is now challenged by a strong Korean contingent led by Jiyai Shin. After a long wait, Michelle Wie has emerged as a legitimate contender.

Wie can contend for #1 at this stage? Absolutely not. About 5th on tour, yes. She isn’t going to climb over Ochoa, Tseng, Choi, Creamer, Kerr, and not to mention Shin at this stage. A few of them? For sure. All? NO! Could Wie do it in another few years? It’s a possibility.

Someone please adjust Dorman’s meds aka Happy pills.

 

Things are looking up? Cleveland beats New Jersey 94-86

After gaining their 3rd win of the 2009-10 NBA season, the Nets went back to their losing ways. From AP-

LeBron James had 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Jersey Nets 94-86 on Saturday for their seventh straight victory.Cle-NJN

Mo Williams added 18 points for the Cavaliers, who have won 12 of 13. They have defeated some of the NBA’s top teams during their winning streak, but struggled against the league’s worst for much of this game, leading by only four with 4 1/2 minutes left.

James then put it away, throwing down a dunk and setting up Daniel Gibson for a 3-pointer and an 86-77 lead with 3:05 remaining.

New Jersey’s highest scorer was Devin Harris with 22 points. The Nets were also hoping this game would mark the return of F Jarvis Hayes who has missed over 30 games but coach Kiki Vandeweghe decided Hayes needed more time.

Now for the part of the article that I found amusing.

The Nets fell to 3-30, but the good news is it’s finally 2010, when they’re hoping to be able to transform the franchise. They could have the most money to offer this summer’s free agent class, expected to be highlighted by James, and they hope that, along with his friendship with rapper and part-owner Jay-Z, plus a planned new arena in Brooklyn, could get them in the running for him or one of the other All-Stars who could be available.

James will come play for the worst NBA team(Who hasn’t been able to win 2 games in a row all season) and because one day he might be able to strut his stuff in Brooklyn. Sure, and Associated Press will hire me to be its national golf writer.

 

Crystal Ball Time

My annual sports predictions for the upcoming year. Due to some unknown reason, I skipped doing this a year ago. What matters is I came back, right?

1 Cleveland beats the LA Lakers for the NBA Championship
2 Indianapolis defeats Arizona in the Super Bowl Crystall ball
3 San Jose defeats Washington for the Stanley Cup
4 St. Louis beats the Los Angeles Angels in the World Series
5 Tiger Woods returns to golf, wins at least one tournament but no major championships. That is a risky prediction in light of the fact that Tiger has won majors on 3 of this year’s host courses.(Augusta National, Pebble Beach, St. Andrews)
6 Phil Mickelson wins the US Open
7 Michelle Wie wins at least two tournaments, one of which is a major championship
8 Ji Yai Shin is LPGA player of the year
9 A non-Korean golfer will be LPGA rookie of the year
10 Yu-Na Kim wins figure skating gold at the 2010 Olympics
11 The Miami Dolphins don’t make this year’s playoffs but have a winning 2010 season
12 The Miami Heat make the playoffs but lose in the 1st round
13 The Florida Marlins have a winning record but don’t make the playoffs
14 Urban Meyer doesn’t return as coach of the Florida Gators
15 Joe Paterno announces his retirement after the 2010 Penn State season is complete
16 The Florida Panthers don’t make the playoffs
17 The Florida Panthers trade Goalie Tomas Vokoun
18 Manny Pacquiao loses to Floyd Mayweather
19 Kansas defeats Purdue for the NCAA Basketball Championship
20 Texas defeats Alabama in the BCS Championship game
21 Army has a winning football season and gets a bowl invitation
22 Washington Redskins fire Coach Jim Zorn
23 Serena Williams wins at Wimbledon
24 Versus and Directv finally settle their dispute
25 A North American horse racing track closes its doors.
26 Sebastian Vettel wins the Formula World Drivers Championship
27 New York Rangers fire Coach John Tortorella
28 The New Jersey Nets don’t finish with the worst record in NBA history
29 Connecticut defeats Tennessee for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship
30 At least half these predictions are wrong

We’ll come back on December 31st 2010 and see how I did.

 
 


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